Dachau concentration camp

The concentration camp in Dachau was operative between 1933 and 1945. It is located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the town of Dachau, about 20km northwest of Munich. It was the first concentration camp established by the national socialists in Germany. Between 1933 and 1945 over 200000 prisoners from more than 30 countries were housed in Dachau; two-thirds were political prisoners and nearly one-third were Jews. 40000 prisoners died here. After WW II the concentration camp was dismantled and later reconstructed in 1965 on the initiative of and in accordance with the plans of the surviving prisoners who had joined together fo form the Comite International de Dachau. The Bavarian state government provided financial support.